The WBO has sanctioned the April 1 clash between two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy “El Tren” Ramírez (11-1, 7 KOs) and Isaac “Royal Storm” Dogboe (24-2, 15 KOs) for the WBO interim featherweight world title, The bout will take place on ESPN+ April 1 at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa.
In the eight-round co-feature, super welterweight Xander Zayas (15-0, 10 KOs) looks to extend his unbeaten record against nine-year veteran Ronald “Diablo” Cruz (18-2-1, 12, KOs).
Other bouts, also streaming live on ESPN+, include:
In an eight-round grudge match, Jahi Tucker (9-0, 5 KOs) will make his junior middleweight debut against Nikoloz Sekhniashvili (8-1, 6 KOs). Tucker: “Nikoloz is going to be easy work. After I get finished with him, I want to fight Xander.”
Two-time world title challenger Joet Gonzalez (25-3, 13 KOs) returns against Jose Enrique Vivas (22-2, 11 KOs) in a 10-round featherweight fight.
Junior welterweight phenom Tiger Johnson (7-0, 5 KOs), who represented the U.S. at the Tokyo Olympics, fights in an eight-rounder against an opponent to be named.
Heavyweight prospect Jeremiah Milton (8-0, 6 KOs) returns home against an opponent to be named.
Lightweight Abdullah Mason (6-0, 5 KOs) makes his 2023 debut in a six-rounder.
Light heavyweight prospect Dante Benjamin Jr. (5-0, 3 KOs) appears in a six-rounder.
This’ll probably be for the full WBO featherweight title because Navarrete fights for the title at 130 next week. If he wins (and he should), the WBO will give him 10 days to decide which belt he wants to keep and MOST LIKELY he will pick 130 (I think I’ve only ever seen one person pick to stay at the lower weight).
“Interim” ? You either fight for the
“World Title” or you don’t.
Why create belts? The WBA have got rid of(or almost) all their bogus belts after negative reactions from the boxing faithful for years.
WBO,please don’t go down the “interim this and that” path.
Read what Lucie posted. This isn’t a created belt.
WBA still has a belt for every few pounds-they are no better than the other organizations.
Ramirez something special. Salas in his corner is a great asset.
Nobody cares about these bogus belts.
So when Navarette vacates the belt, which is basically happening in a couple of weeks, should it just stay vacant and in limbo?
Dogboe has a limited skill set, and athleticism will only get you so far at the top level. Ramirez should have this in the bag.